Tag Archives: Miles Redd

Since the layout of home is very open, there are no actual walls to our kitchen. However, as I’ve mentioned, the walls of our kitchen banquette area are covered with artwork. And there’s plenty of art opposite the kitchen island too, on the walls surrounding the staircase and going down the stairs. Since I spend more time than I’d like at the kitchen sink, I hung one of my favorites, a painting by my friend Lee Essex Doyle, directly across from it, so at least I have a good view.

The Florida condo has a little self-contained kitchen. So far, there is no artwork in the kitchen. On the other hand, the walls are still covered in terrible nautical-themed wallpaper. (I think I finally found someone to take it down and paint this spring.) Note to self: Add art to the kitchen in Delray Beach. Here are 32 gorgeous kitchens, all with fine art and photography, for inspiration.

I’m down in Florida last week, and although the condo still needs work, I haven’t quite motivated to do anything. I had the pink tiles and tub in the master bath reglazed, but that’s about it. Mostly I’m waiting for the contractor to say he can start. We’re not doing a lot—the main objective is to put down a new floor, tear off the wallpaper, and repaint. Those are the must-do projects.

The kitchen is fine, once we get the nautical wallpaper down. (Big thanks to my husband who ordered the perfect white shade and installed it, replacing the painfully outdated navy Venetian blind.) The appliances are not fancy, but they work (though honestly, how does anyone live full time with a fridge with a top freezer?) The countertops are white tile, and there’s a miniature backsplash of varying shades of blue tile. Not ideal, since they’re cobalt rather than Tiffany blue, but we’ll make it work. Right now the cabinets are an ugly, very glossy, bone color with even uglier round black knobs. Obviously the knobs are an easy fix. But what color to paint the cabinets. Probably just white, but it’s fun to imagine . . .

By now you know we have a lot of artwork. We’ve been diligent about hanging, but there are plenty of pieces propped against the wall, and worse, hiding in cabinets and behind furniture, but in some cases we’ve gotten creative. While we haven’t hung art on the fronts of our built in bookshelves, I did recently grab a hammer and nail to hang a lovely nude drawing by Chaim Gross on the frame of the bay window in the living room. I love the way it adds a touch of color and movement to an otherwise bland surface. (The blinds have got to go.)

My Back Bay living room

In related news, my second blog post for Wayfair went live today: “8 Ways to Display Art.” Today’s post is taken from tip #6: Be Brave with Bookshelves. Here are 34 rooms that do just that. Would you try it? Here’s a secret. . . we mounted our flat screen television to the bookshelves in the family room. Didn’t think the shelves would still be functional, but they’re actually fine for DVDs.

I’ve got a ridiculous stack of luscious design books on my (Heywood-Wakefield) coffee table. I may have to start posting twice a day in order to work them all in. If you’re on top of things, you’ll note that a couple of these came out in the spring. Eek.

Let’s start with NYC interior designer Miles Redd’sThe Big Book of Chic (October 2012, Assouline), which I don’t even actually have IRL. However, Assouline did provide me with a digital version and press images. Plus, I found a nifty video on their site in which Miles waxes poetic on the roots of his personal style and his vision for this printed masterpiece.

“This is a book about dreams coming true; the curiosities in the rooms I have decorated; and the people, artists, and places that have inspired me.”

There are some good glimpses of his character and aesthetic from this video. He’s quite appealing. There are also stills of the pages of color-drenched, carefully curated rooms. My favorite nugget:

“I think my love of color came from my mother’s love to dress me up in like, pastel jeans. . .She just would go crazy [with] apricot sorbet color sweaters and mattress plaid pants. I took to it pretty quickly.”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6QH5ykeIPI]

Hailing from Atlanta, Redd moved to NYC to study film at NYU, though his true interest lay in set design. After graduating he worked for antiques dealer John Rosselli, and then assisted decorator Bunny Williams. I plan to meet later this month when she’s in Boston promoting her new line of furniture. I shall ask her about him! Redd established his own firm in 1998.